Asylum
by Mystic Lover of the fairytale
Summary: Luke wakes up in a psychiatric hospital with people telling him aliens don't exist and he's crazy,but what's really arlett Phlame deserves full credit for this idea)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The air tastes stale.

It's strange for Luke. He's normally surrounded by musty attic air or the chill of the AC unit downstairs in the living room when he's studying or reading. The only time he's ever really tasted stale air in his short lifetime was during gym class.

(And that was an off day.)

Whatever the reason, Luke has no clue why the air tastes stale. A shiver trickles down his spine and he sits up, examining the place, wherever he is.

His vision blurs again, and he wipes away the silvery film clouding up his eyes and resumes to gaze at the room, rather awkwardly.

He's dressed in his normal outfit, a pair of brown pants with a blue pinstriped t-shirt that's collared nicely. It's a bit crumpled, but it's (sort of) typical for a kid who's the age he appears. (Although he's really a lot younger than he seems.)

Confused, he sits up, the room shifting around his gaze, like he's wearing contact lenses that bob with each movement he makes. The room's foreign, strange, and it seems to stare back at him with inauspicious eyes.

Luke shudders, and rubs his arms, which are surprisingly cold in the muggy room, and he stands, wandering around. The walls are clean and white, and there are a few pictures hanging on the wall, although, to his disappointment, none of his friends, or of Sarah Jane. There's the bed he was lying on, a little mahogany dresser drawer sitting beside it, and a blue vase with three roses in it. They're old; the petals are falling off and there's a hint of a tinge of black soiling the lip of the pouted red.

He has no clue where he is.

It seems like a children's room, with a stuffed monkey on the bed, some messy clothing thrown about and a small bedside table and cabinet, but it feels more like a hospital. He can sense the smell of latex gloves and cold air, no matter how warm the room is.

Also, there are no windows.

"Hey!" he shouts, because, by this point, he really hopes he's not gone mad. "Hey!"

The first thing he thinks of is maybe he moved. Maybe he and Sarah Jane had moved to a new house. But that isn't possible; there's no way to transfer Mr. Smith, and, besides, would Sarah Jane give up the aliens? He knows he wouldn't.

The second thing he wonders, is, maybe the house has been renovated. Maybe he's somehow lost his memory and woken up in his very own room. But... it doesn't seem likely Sarah Jane would let anyone into the house, for fear of the discovery of alien tech in the attic. (Not to mention how out-in-the-open it is.)

He turns and glances at the door. It's steel and padlocked.

Weird.

Then it opens.

He stumbles backwards, half because of surprise and half because of his jumpiness. But he isn't expecting what he sees.

"Hello, Luke!" Sarah Jane says. "How are you feeling today?"

"Good. Mum, what's going on?" he mumbles. "Whe-" he pauses in mid-sentence, unsure of what to say.

Sarah Jane just frowns. "Luke, what are you talking about?"

He gulps. "Huh?"

She shakes her head. "Luke, I'm not your mother. Have you been taking your medication?"

"What medication, what's going on?" Luke demands, feeling beads of sweat rise up on his forehead.

Sarah Jane folds her arms across her chest. "I think you've relapsed. And just when you were getting better." She tsks and almost turns to leave, but he grabs the sleeve of her coat.

"What relapse?" Luke demands.

"You're in the TARDIS psychiatric hospital," Sarah Jane says. "You're a patient here, and you have been for three years now."

"Wha?" Luke shrieks.

Sarah Jane turns and leaves. "I'm getting Dr. Tanizaki," she informs him, as the heavy metal door swings shut.

.

Luke falls softly back onto the bed, his mind swirling with questions. "Confused" isn't even a good enough word to describe how he feels. Why did Sarah Jane say he wasn't her son? She'd sounded so sure.

It's impossible for him to have been here for three years. He'd been created with the physical aspects of a thirteen-year old, but he's only a few months old, in reality. He's never forgotten anything, and he doesn't expect now to be an exception.

He wraps his arm around himself, shivering, unsure if it's from the cold or his thoughts.

The door opens and an elderly Japanese man in a white coat comes in, frayed white hair pulled across his scalp. Sarah Jane stands behind him, and she looks at him with pity in her eyes.

"I think he's having a relapse, poor thing, he thought I was his Mum," Sarah Jane says, as if he's not even in the room.

The man - one Luke supposes is Doctor Tanizaki - shakes his head firmly, before pulling out a chair and sitting across from Luke.

"Have you been taking your medication?" Doctor Tanizaki asks.

"I..." He swallows, his mouth suddenly dry. He's both confused, and scared. Medicine? He can't remember.

Doctor Tanizaki leans forward. "You need to take your medicine, it helps with your problem," he scolds, as if Luke should have any idea of what's going on.

"P-problems?" he stutters, still unable to reach a level of comprehension.

"The delusions, love," Sarah Jane tells him. "Aliens and such, there's no such thing."

Luke looks from one adult to the other.

This is it. This isn't real, it can't be. He pinches himself, but he's still here and the cold reality hits him like a bucket of ice water; this is real. Apparently, he's insane. Delusional, they say.

He's read about people like this (or at least he thinks he has). Maybe, maybe he has created a whole new life for himself.

Whatever he is, he isn't sure anymore.

.

Sarah Jane wakes him up the next morning.

"Good morning." She's holding a cup of water in one hand. She hands him the water and a small cup, and he peers inside. There's three different colored pills; dull orange, red, and yellow. He looks at her, perplexed. He doesn't take medication, does he? But, then again, he isn't so sure of anything anymore.

The pills go down quite easily. Sarah Jane checks to see if he swallowed them, then mentions breakfast and another talk with Doctor Tanizaki.

A few minutes later, they're walking down a corridor. It's not what Luke expects, white linoleum and white halls, this is more like a resort or hotel. The floor is carpeted and the walls are wallpapered with framed pictures. They head downstairs and into a huge room with tables and chairs. It looks like a restaurant. There's only two other people- well, kids, really there, a boy and girl. The girl looks up, waving. Sarah Jane pushes Luke towards them.

"Go ahead," she urges.

Luke hesitates but walks forward. The girl smiles at him. She's pretty, with curly dark hair, big brown eyes, thin. All she's eating is half a boiled egg, unlike the boy next to her, who is eating a full breakfast.

"Hi, Luke," the girl says, pushing out a chair with her foot.

"H-how do you know my name?" he asks.

"Told you he forgot," the boy says.

"Shut up, Clyde," the girl tells him,"I'm Maria Jackson. That idiot is Clyde Langer."

Luke sits down warily. "If you want food, it's on the side board," Maria tells him, and points to the other end of the room.

The sideboard is filled with several boxes of cereal, milk, a serving bowl of scrambled eggs, another with boiled, fruit, platters of bacon, sausages, and another of pastries, baked beans, toast, and pitchers of juice. He isn't really hungry, and just takes an apple and a piece of toast.

When he gets back to the table, Clyde's nearly done, but Maria is picking at her egg, slowly nibbling at it.

.

His head hurts, and he's feeling nauseous, his arms wrapped around his knees. He's huddled in an armchair in Doctor Tanizaki's office

He hasn't spoken since he sat down; Doctor Tanizaki is trying to get him to talk.

"I can't help you, Luke, if you don't talk. You do know why you are here, don't you? And why you have been here for the past three years?"

When he doesn't answer, Doctor Tanizaki continues. "Delusions and hallucinations. Your foster mother sent you here when you were ten, after you kept insisting she was an alien... Bane, was it?" he shakes his head sorrowfully.

"I... don't." Luke's voice trails off, and he presses his lips shut. Bane. The name fills him with dread, and he doesn't know why. He doesn't remember ten- actually, he doesn't even remember yesterday.

He stares outside. It's a sunny day, there's a expansive garden with flowers and trees providing ample shade, benches dotted here and there. He doesn't want to be here. Doctor Tanizaki is still talking, but he stops listening. He can't hear, there's someone screaming, and he realizes- it's him. He's screaming.

He tries to stop, but he can't, and even with his hands pressed against his ears, he can still hear it.

He doesn't see Doctor Tanizaki pick up the phone, doesn't see Sarah Jane hurry over with a needle. Then everything goes black.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: First half of this chapter belongs to me~! Thanks to Mystic for cowriting this book with me! :)

Chapter Two

He remembers.

It's the first thought that comes to him; he remembers. He remembers Maria and Clyde. He remembers 13 Bannerman Road and the picket fence at the park, he remembers Sarah Jane and the Bane, and most importantly; he remembers the aliens.

His eyes flicker open, and he glances around the room. It's the same room he was previously in the other day, and all he can think is; this isn't right. It can't be. He isn't delusional. There's something going on, and he isn't insane. He's not.

There's a little cup on his bedside table, with three multicolored pills resting beside it. He stares at them for a moment, wondering if he should take them, and then he decides. No, he won't take them. If something's going on, then maybe he's been caught by an alien or something. Maybe Doctor Tanizaki's an alien, and he's gotten Sarah Jane and Maria and Clyde somehow.

It's the only valid explanation he has for it.

He glances around the room, looking for security cameras. Strangely, there's none, just the walls and the toys and the vase with the rose in it. And the pills, and the cup of water.

But he won't take them. Who knows what kind of drugs they might be? He can barely remember yesterday as it is, and yesterday did feel strange and bizarre- like playing a video game for the first time and messing up.

No matter what, he has to talk to Maria and Clyde. If the alien's tricked Sarah Jane into thinking she's some sort of a doctor, since she's an adult, she'll be the hardest to convince. He has to prove to Maria and Clyde he's a-

Belly button.

Luke doesn't have a belly button.

How could he have forgotten? He wasn't born, after all, he was created by the Bane. Strange as it might be to go up to them and say, "hey, I haven't got a belly button, so aliens are real and I'm not insane" wouldn't help him at all. It'd probably put him into deeper treatment.

Pulling his shirt up slightly, he rubs his thumb over his stomach.

And he freezes.

He has a belly button.

Panic surges through him and he nearly falls over, teetering dangerously from side to side- but, no. No, no, no. If this alien's able to trick Sarah Jane into thinking that she's a doctor, and aliens aren't real, then it's surely able to toy with him. He could be hallucinating right now; he recalls the pills from yesterday. Well, he won't take them anymore, then. Even if Maria and Clyde are on hallucinative pills, he just needs to convince himself that he's right in order to get out of here.

Most importantly, he can't forget Clyde and Maria again. Like he did yesterday; strange, almost like he has two personalities, two people living inside him.

Still, he pegs finding Maria and Clyde as his number one goal at the moment. He needs as much information as he can get. And right now, they might be the only ones who can help him.

.

"Are there cameras?" he whispers, bringing a piece of toast up to his mouth to hide what he's saying.

"Sorry?" Maria pauses in her eating - well, more like picking at her food - to stare at him. All she has is a few spoonfuls of scrambled eggs.

"Are there security cameras?"

Maria snorts. "Of course there are."

"Shh, don't talk so loud," he reprimands her. "Maria... what do you remember before coming here?"

The brunette's brow furrows. "Don't be silly. I've told you this hundreds of times before."

"Tell me again."

"I hate it when you relapse," she whines, returning to poking her eggs. "I'm getting better, I'm eating now. Maybe I can go back to school in a while. But if you keep on relapsing, you'll be stuck here forever."

"I won't be stuck here. I just need you to tell me what you remember," Luke says.

Maria sighs. "I'm anorexic. That's why I'm here. It's only short-term treatment. You were me and Clyde's friend for a while, but then you lost it and started telling everyone your mum was an alien. You've been here for three years."

"That's what everyone's been telling me," Luke insists, "but I can't help but notice that you aren't telling me anything about you. You're just talking about me. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

Maria freezes, but turns back to her eggs. "Not really. I don't like talking about myself or my past. I just want to get better."

"Where's Clyde?" Luke sighs, because maybe he'll listen to him.

Maria shrugs. "Dunno. Nobody's seen him this morning."

.

# Asylum 2 #

**This is my half **

.

Maria tells Luke that Clyde is meeting with Doctor Tanizaki. She stands up, picking up her tray, and heads over to the conveyor belt. She comes back and sits across from him, eyes studying him. He frowns a bit, squirming slightly under her gaze. Finally, she speaks.

"Monday, that's when you came here, three years ago." She continues speaking, but he has stopped listening, because he's- well, he isn't sure if it's really remembering, if he isn't sure the memories are real.

*three years ago*

It's raining, the gloomy skies turning the three story brick building into a grey dreary prison. (Which it basically is.) It's just a prettier prison, and instead of inmates who have committed crimes, kids and teenagers with mental health issues are sent here.  
Luke doesn't want to be here, but apparently he's delusional. He heard his foster mother talking on the phone.

She's looking at him, mouth pressed in a thin line, impatiently waiting. He's dragging his feet going as slow as he can. He doesn't care if she's getting impatient, he hates her. He's gone through several foster families, but he's lived with Ms. Wormwood the longest two years.

She's getting tired of waiting and grabs his wrist, practically dragging him along. He has to half run to keep up.

They enter the building. It's like a hotel lobby- plush seats, luscious plants. A woman in a nurse's uniform comes out, she has kind eyes, and Luke wishes she was his mother.

"I'm Sarah Jane Smith, you must be Mrs. Wormwood, and you must be Luke."

"Do I just leave him here, then?" asks Mrs. Wormwood. She doesn't even wait for an answer, just walks off without a backward glance.

Sarah Jane frowns, then turns to the child next to her. He seems small for ten. He looks up at her- he's a good-looking child, the kind of child she would have liked to have if circumstances were different. She holds out her hand and slips his hand into hers.

.

He has a visitor. Sarah Jane comes and gets him, leading him into the common room. He isn't sure who he expects.

His social worker stands up. She smiles nervously.

"She doesn't want me anymore." It's not a question, he's been waiting for this day. Or has he? He isn't sure, but he feels nothing .

"I'm so sorry." She shakes her head.

He doesn't care. "May I be excused?" he asks, before backing out of the room.

.

He doesn't like when it's time for bed. He hates lying in the dark- he's scared of the dark, because in the dark he can see the creatures everyone says don't exist and he's never sure if he's dreaming or remembering.

So he doesn't close his eyes and he doesn't sleep.

The door opens and Sarah Jane comes in. She's noticed he never sleeps - hasn't for several months - and when he does, it's sporadic.

Normally, when patients have trouble sleeping, they'd be prescribed a sleeping pill, but she doesn't feel right giving him more pills. She doesn't know why. She sits at the edge of his bed. She doesn't know why, but she starts gently stroking his forehead, smoothing his hair back. He's been here three years and she doesn't know why she's drawn to him, and when he called her Mum the other day, it felt oddly right. She shakes her head. She can't get to close to the patients, they will be cured (or medicated) and go home. TARDIS Hospital is mostly short-term care, a few months to a year at the most, but Luke is different. He's special. He has no home, no family.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Scarlet here, hope you like this chapter!

Chapter Three

The monotone air in the room seems to freeze in a moment of time, clinging to his eyelashes and hovering, just barely, over his skin. "It's not real," he whispers, allowing his eyes to close. "I don't want it to- to be real."

From somewhere that feels very distant, Maria sighs and pokes her fork towards her sunny-side, jabbing at the orangey yolk center. "I know you're having a hard time, but you've been here so long. I just wish you would get better. I'd like you to be there when I can return from school, Lukey. You're my best friend."

Luke shakes his head. "No. It's got to be an illusion, some sort of illusion."

Aliens are real. He knows this much. He was created, not born. His best friends are Maria and Clyde, and his "adoptive" mother is Sarah Jane Smith. There's a computer in the wall in their attic, and they fight aliens and save the world. These are the facts he keeps repeating to himself in his head without tire, but he isn't even sure if they're facts. But... they are all he has left.

He swallows, hard. "I think Doctor Tanizaki is an alien," he whispers to Maria. "You just have to try to remember. You're probably under his control, or..." he pauses, shakes his head. "Or... No. You're my best friend, Maria, so think. Thirteen Bannerman Road, Mr. Smith, the alien computer in the attic. You remember him, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Maria grumbles, and he freezes.

"You do?"

"Yeah, he's a part of your delusion." Maria takes another jab at the sunny-side, and then hesitantly brings a forkful up to her mouth, chews, and swallows. "And 13 Bannerman Road doesn't exist, by the way, so don't bother trying to convince me I used to live somewhere that doesn't exist."

"I've gone to school, I can pick up math and subjects really easily," Luke continues, desperately. He doesn't want to brag, but it's true. If he can prove that he's different, it'll make his theory about the aliens look a lot more true, and maybe he can get Maria to believe him.

"Yeah, you're gifted," Maria counters. "And really smart. But you're here because you're also delusional."

"But I can't read well," Luke says. "How can I be nearly up to calculus and not be able to read well?"

Maria sighs and brushes back a strand of her dark black hair. "You're dyslexic. And you're really, really smart, which is why everyone wants you out of this place. That's Doctor Tanizaki's theory; you're smart and gifted, and you felt as if you were under-appreciated in your home, and at school you were way ahead of the other students, but everyone treated you normal. Subconsciously, you felt as if you were superior to them, which is why you made up the delusion that aliens were real and you fought them, so you would feel like you had some sort of standing in the world."

Luke shakes his head. "Thirteen Bannerman Road is real, and so are aliens. Don't you remember Canary Wharf, and that thing where all the Daleks were covering the earth?" he rambles on, desperately.

"Then don't you ever wonder why your story is so elaborate?" Maria counters. "Most delusions are, Luke. I hate to tell you this, and I didn't even want this heavy of a conversation over breakfast, but most delusions are elaborate, because the victim has burrowed so deeply into their story, although they know that they aren't right. That only makes them want to be right, and to prove themselves, they subconsciously make a story mor-"

"How do you know all this?" Luke blurts, frowning. "You... sound like Doctor Tanizaki," he continues, when she doesn't answer.

"Luke, in the time that I've known you, we've talked. You've told me all these things. I'm just trying to help," Maria sighs.

"I'm not wrong. I'm not delusional," he hisses, standing up abruptly and exiting the building. "And I'm going to prove it," he whispers to himself.

# Asylum 3.2 #

Proving he isn't delusional is easier said than done. Luke knows he isn't delusional, though a small part of him isn't completely sure because of everything everyone tells him... Maria, Sarah Jane, Doctor Tanizaki and even Clyde sound normal, and maybe just maybe he isn't as normal as he keeps insisting- or, rather, abnormal, as the case may be, but he can't bring himself to believe that no matter how plausible it sounds.

The only way to prove this is a delusion is to get proof, and there's one place that might have the proof he needs. Doctor Tanizaki's office; but it's always locked when he isn't in it. He could pick locks, he knows how (he doesn't know how he knows, he just knows) and he lies in bed, waiting for the night nurse (not Sarah Jane,she's off Thursday nights) to make her rounds, before slipping out of bed, pushing the safety pin into the lock and turning the knob. The corridor is silent and dark, and he slips out, taking care not to be anywhere near the cameras.

.

Doctor Tanizaki's office is like a tomb. There's a file cabinet, and Luke uses the pin to unlock the cabinet, searching through hundreds of files. Finally, he sees one with his name on it. Pulling it out, he sits on the floor. He shines the torch on it and starts reading .

Patient's name: Luke (There's no last name)

Age: Ten years old

*Patient shows signs of delusions, insists his foster mother is an alien and won't be persuaded otherwise. His home life has not been the best; in and out of foster care since the age of three. Patient insists he was created by an alien race called the Bane. Patient also believes one of the nurses; Sarah Jane Smith is his mother. I feel the patient requires medication and therapy.*

He's shaking, the paper falling to the floor. He wishes he hasn't seen the paper. He has proven nothing, found nothing, that could tell people he isn't crazy, because there is nothing to prove he isn't crazy, just stuff that proves he is delusional. He was getting what he wished for- a normal life, but in the worst way possible. He puts everything back in the drawer and slips out.

.

Luke notices that Maria looks happy during breakfast and she isn't picking at her food.

"Doctor Tanizaki says I might be able to go home soon," she confides.  
Luke tries to smile, tries to be happy, but he can't seem to. He doesn't want Maria to leave, he wants her to stay. He realizes this sounds petty, so he forces himself to smile, then asks where Clyde is. It's because he doesn't want to hear Maria talking about home. He has no home if what everyone says is true, and he is starting to believe it, 'though he doesn't want to believe it. Then he has no one and no home.


	4. Chapter 4

Scarlet Phlame's AN: I've dubbed this chapter "The Great Escape". Guess you'll see why, soon enough. ;-)

R&R!

Chapter Four

It's nighttime when the thought comes to him.

He's lying in his bed, pondering his existence, questioning his sanity, and, most importantly, what to do next, when it hits him.

There's only one thing to do next.

Escape.

If he can find Thirteen Bannerman Road, figure out what's going on, maybe he can prove to everyone that he's not insane. Show them all that he knows the truth, knows that aliens are real. Maybe that's it. Maybe Doctor Tanizaki's hypnotized all his friends. Maybe if he brings back some sort of alien artifact from the house, he'll have proof that aliens are real. Or at least he was exposed to sciences too great for common technology, and they'd be forced to look into it, and-

He frowns. Wait a minute... what about all the past invasions? He doesn't know much past the time he'd been born, but what about the time when all those plastic mannequins started running around town? Clyde had told him about those. Or what about the spaceship crashing into Big Ben?

Maybe Doctor Tanizaki's made everyone forget. He's an alien, Luke's sure of it. Luke doesn't know how to handle him, but he does know that he had to get out of here.

.

On his way to breakfast, he counts all the cameras down the hall and works out where all the blind spots are (even if he's potentially insane, he is very smart).

At breakfast, he talks to Maria a bit, gives up trying to convince her she's living a lie. The Maria he knew wouldn't have destroyed herself like this. For once, he'll figure out everything and save them all.

Theorizing as he bites into his cereal, he wonders if maybe Doctor Tanizaki is after information. Maybe he wants him to spill alien artifact information or whatever, so then he can use it to conquer the world or something. Maybe that's why he's the only one who was allowed to remember everything that happened, everything they'd done on Thirteen Bannerman Road. Because he's smart, and broken, and the most susceptible to pain, and he's the most likely to spill their secrets.

But it doesn't make sense. Gruesome as the thought was, couldn't Doctor Tanizaki just torture him to get the information? Or maybe it was like that character Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer that Clyde had told him about. Maybe Doctor Tanizaki was physically unable to harm human beings. It sort of makes sense when he thinks about it that way.

Sighing, he finishes up the rest of his cereal, but then he spots a steak knife resting on the table. Quietly, he slips it into the sleeve of his long-sleeved shirt before walking quietly back to his room and hiding it in his underwear drawer. He doubts he'll actually use it, but it might come in handy for something.

Night falls, and he returns to Doctor Tanizaki's office, rummaging through his desk for a building plan. But there's nothing, nothing to be found, so he just takes a few paperclips and a staple gun and runs back to his room.

He checks over everything he has, then trembles in anticipation.

He has his plan.

He's ready to escape.

.

# Escape #

He's standing on the street waiting for a bus. Escaping was easy. Too easy. He's nervous and scared, half expecting anyone to drag him back, but he can't go back, he won't go back. He has to prove he isn't crazy. The bus pulls up. The bus driver looks him up and down. He's out of place it's the middle of the night and he's a child, alone, luckily the bus driver doesn't seem to care, just waves him on. He pays the fare; the only good thing about Mrs. Wormwood was his allowance, which he saved, every bit, and had with him.

He watches the scenery go by. There's no other passengers, he's the only one. Finally, he sees Bannerman Road, or, rather, what's supposed to be Bannerman Road, but it's not there. Instead, it says Hyder Street.

"Where's Bannerman Road?" he asks. Maybe he's on the wrong bus, or this is the wrong street.

"There's no Bannerman Road, son," the driver says.

Luke isn't sure what to do. Everything is falling apart. The more proof he tries to get to prove he isn't crazy, the more he finds to the contrary. The bus driver lets him stay on. He's lonely and enjoys the company, but Luke isn't sure he's even good company.

They drive around, picking up few passengers here and there. Eventually, the sun comes up, and the driver looks at him in the mirror.

"I have to let you off here," he says. They're in front of a cafe. "You gonna be all right, kid?"

Luke is about to say no, but nods instead, forcing a smile on his face before exiting the bus into the clear cold morning. The driver waves and takes off.

The cafe is warm and smells like grease and tea. A waitress approaches him.

"I'm meeting my Mum." The lie is out before he realises he doesn't lie, he doesn't know how, he's not supposed to know how. The girl nods and leads him to a table handing him a menu. He's so tired. Lying his head in his arms, he closes his eyes and promptly falls asleep.

.

He isn't sure what wakes him up, but when he opens his eyes, Sarah Jane is sitting across from him. He closes his eyes; it's a dream. There's no way she's here, she's back at the asylum, not here, not in this cafe.

"You were very clever, Luke," she says. She sounds almost proud. "But you weren't the first patient we've had that's tried to escape, 'though none made it past the front door."

"I'm not going back," Luke says. He won't, not willingly, they'll have to drag him back, he won't go back. He'd rather live on the street.

Sarah Jane sighs, shaking her head. "You need treatment, you aren't well at all. Clyde and Maria worry about you, you're a clever boy with so much potential, but these delusions about aliens are not healthy."

He doesn't want to go back. He isn't crazy, he can't be crazy, he doesn't want to be crazy. He stands up, the chair crashing to the floor, and runs out of the cafe and into the strong arms of a ambulance driver.

"This is for your own good," Sarah Jane says, as he struggles to break free from the man's grip. She nods and a needle plunges into his arm and he goes limp. "I'm so sorry," she says as he's loaded onto the stretcher.

.

His head is pounding when he wakes up. His mouth feels dry and his entire body feels heavy like he's dragged around. The room's changed slightly; there's bars on the windows and he's pretty sure there's a camera in the corner, so apparently they're going to make sure he won't try to escape again.

He can hear keys in the lock, he doesn't want to see or speak to anyone, not Doctor Tanizaki or Sarah Jane, not Clyde or Maria, no one. He pulls the covers over his head, pretending to be asleep. Whoever it is doesn't say anything, just places something on the bedside table and leaves. He peeks out from under the covers, there's a tray of food on the table with spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, fruit salad, and a glass of milk. He wonders how long he was out, since it's dinner. He isn't very hungry and curls back up, before drifting back to sleep. He likes sleep, it's safe, familiar, and comforting.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Whoop! Scarlet here! Mystic and I are sorta changing up the pace, so to say… I'll be writing even chaps, she'll be writing odd from now on. :)

Enjoy!

Asylum 4

Luke's sort of tired.

He hasn't exactly been tired in a while; more sleepy or slightly running on adrenaline, but he hasn't been tired. It's sort of like… what did Sarah Jane call them… Buzz crashes? Except he wasn't running on caffeine, but hope. Hope was his engine and his fuel. Where is he now? What is he now, without hope?

Wearily, he shifts under the covers, then leans over and slips out from the embrace of wool and cotton and polyester threads and, with a sigh, examines his room. It's different… it's been different since he last tried to run. He paces a bit, lagging behind with pure exhaustion. The air is stale. Why is it stale? It shouldn't be stale. Luke bites his lip. He has all these memories… of soft air, of kind people, of warm atmospheres. It's… it's odd. It's… it doesn't make sense. Why are his memories better than he is? If you can't get something-someone-out of your head, are they meant to be there?

He wonders what his memories are there for. To taunt him? To make him fight for something that likely doesn't even exist? It breaks him, just a little, thinking about-hoping about-praying about what it might be like if they were true. Should he let himself down? Accept his situation as it is? Or is he going to fight for something that has proven to him again and again to be false?

Even so… what else does he have to fight for? What is left for him in this world? Who does he have? After he gets out, then what? What is he supposed to do?

He thinks about it. It's painful. His face scrunches up into a frown. He closes his eyes. When he opens them, they are wet with tears. It makes sense. Did he really make up… something better for him to help him deal with what he didn't have? Is that it? But… if there's one last strand of sanity left, he clings onto it, fingernails digging into the edge of a cliff.

He's strong.

He doesn't break easily. Lies or no lies, if his name is Luke or Clyde or Sarah bloody Jane, he doesn't break easily. He's strong. He knows it. And if he's strong, he refuses to break like this. He's still determined; there's still that fire in him that forces him to never give up. If he won't give up now, then why would he give up back then?

Why?

Satisfied, he waits for the door to open so he can go to breakfast.

.

Maria's awfully grumpy this morning. She barely touches her poached egg, and when he sits down in front of her with a plate full of bacon, she glares at him, angrily.

"I can't believe you tried to run," she says, rather accusingly. He frowns. Her tone does not fit her character. Neither do her words.

He stiffens, sighs, and then squirms in his seat. "I just needed to find out if I had anything else left."

Her gaze softens slightly, but then she sighs and resumes poking at her egg. Luke's stabbed in the heart. He chews on a piece of bacon, but it tastes funny, like he just brushed his teeth. Everything here is wrong, so wrong, always wrong. Why can't she see that? Or is it that she doesn't want to see it, doesn't want to accept that maybe he's right? His thoughts swim in a weird bowl of chicken soup as he struggles to chew. His eyelids are heavy as he awaits her response.

"It's not fair to pull a runner like that," she huffs. "It makes us all nervous."

"Nervous?"

She nods. "It stresses out Doctor Tanizaki. He only wants to help. You know that, right?"

Luke sighs. "I don't… I don't know what to think anymore. This… this isn't right. It's all wrong. All of it."

Maria stares at him. "Have you ever considered that maybe, for once, Luke, you're the one who's wrong, and not the rest of us?"

Her words are brutal, cold. They stab him. He stares at her, dumbfounded. She simply shrugs and goes back to poking at her eggs. She mumbles something else but he is not listening. He feels numb and cold all over. He doesn't consider her words for a minute. He knows she's wrong. She has to be wrong.

Right?

…Right?

Right.

.

He catches Clyde in the hallway. As soon as the other sees him, he breaks into a huge grin. "Great job, mate."

"What for?" he murmurs, curious. Apparently, he's caught Clyde in the middle of one of his 'good moments'. He doesn't entirely understand his condition… something about… But, even so, if Clyde's his friend, good moment or bad moment, then he might still be able to help Luke. (He's sort of seeing a dead end in Maria.)

Clyde pats him on the back. Luke half-chokes on air. "You pulled off a runner, mate!" He beams. "That has to count for somethin', right?"

"Right." Luke winces. "So. How have you been?"

Clyde shrugs. "Plotting evilly, as per usual." They both grin. Luke's smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. He can feel it. "I think I'll end the world on Tuesday, so best hit the bomb shelters then."

"Right." Luke shifts uncomfortably. "Sorry, did I just say that?"

Clyde's shoulders twitch.

"I haven't seen you in a bit," Luke admits.

The other's gaze darkens. "Doctor Tanizaki's been off on me lately. Don't know why. I think the man's a nutcase of his own."

Luke stares at him. Then blinks. Then does a double take. "Maria doesn't agree," he says, cautiously.

"Maria never agrees," Clyde grumbles. "There's something off about the man. He's… wrong. Not right. Can't you feel it?"

"Yeah, something like that," Luke admits. Something pulses in him. Is it excitement? Is he right? Maybe he is. Maybe Clyde can help him get out of here. He certainly didn't react in the same way Maria did to his escape. Maybe… Maybe they haven't got Clyde completely under their clutches, after all.

"So what do you want to do?" Clyde blurts. Luke half jumps, then chuckles.

"How do you mean?"

"I was thinking we could hack into the wifi system," he says, grinning. "They have a router in the staff's lounge."

"They have Internet?"

"Only for the staff," Clyde explains. There's something on his face-Luke isn't sure what-that makes him nervous. "Oh, come on! Don't you wanna see what's going on out there?"

Yes. No. I don't know. Luke's not sure which to respond with, but…

"Yeah," he says. "Let's go."

They both head off to the lounge, a sort of sickening feeling bubbling up in Luke's stomach. Clyde makes him nervous… it isn't the same boy he remembers from 13 Bannerman. He's… stranger, scarier. Luke doesn't know how to describe him; he wants to trust him, but he can't, and he feels like he's using him for his own benefit; to escape and discover the truth.

Nevertheless, he holds his breath and steps into the fold.

A


End file.
